Teens' Nerf guns raise ruckus

The Cincinnati Enquirer ^ | 05/06/2004 | Sheila McLaughlin

[TC Rider]

Sounds like fun to me, so long as they keep it safe.

[2banana]

They should keep to traditional teenage activities - marching in pro-abortion parades, holding gay-day activities and dressing like Britney Spears...

[egarvue]

It is fun. We used to play this back in high-school and college in the 80s - we called it Assassin back then. Heck, they even made a cheezy 80's movie out of the craze (I think the film was called "T.A.G. - The Assassination Game"). The cops are totally justified in taking precautions, though.

[Fixit]

So far this spring, Blue Ash police have confiscated about 15 Nerf guns and PVC pipes fashioned into blowguns, as well as a pair of walkie-talkies.

Sounds like the Blue Ash Police could stand a bit of a force reduction.

 

That's mighty fine
work boys.

[Corporate Law]

Officers suggested that Montgomery and Blue Ash could pass resolutions to outlaw the game, he said. So far, nothing has been done.

Blue Ash is the only city in Hamilton County with any common sense and good business sense. Warren County should annex them.

Cincinnati is the Hellmouth on the Ohio.

[TC Rider]

When I graduated from HS back in '70, it was common to bring in squirt guns (no nerfs then) after spring break for a day or two. Very unorganized. The game was over when the Nuns had confiscated all of the squirt guns.

[Pest]

We played the same game in college in the late 80's and early 90's. We used the gun that shoots the suction cup darts. It was a blast!

[TC Rider]

LOL, perfect!

[mtbopfuyn]

It does sound like loads of fun, but I can understand the problems it causes in today's society.

[Redcloak]

"You'll shoot your eye out, Ralphy."

[Rifleman]

They are justified in being aware of the game (we called it KAOS or "Killer As Organized Sport" when I played in college. Bigtime fun. I offed one of my victims with a tape recorder. "I am a ten second bomb! I am a ten second bomb! Nine! BOOM!....I lied.") and checking up. BUT pulling a gun on any of the players is a stupid and extreme over reaction. If it is banned from school grounds (as it should be) take the nerf guns and disqualify the player.

If a cop draws on anyone just because they look or are doing something "hinky" then they are putting innocent people at risk. The coppers should lighten up.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Bang

[valkyrieanne]

The nattering nannies want to castrate teenage boys, until all they are good for is watching "Queer Eye," doing their nails, and going to Gay-Straight Alliance meetings at their high school.

[Fixit]

There used to be a standard joke on the web that gun banners wouldn't be happy until all that was left for people to own was the consistency of NERF so as to preclude the use of anything as a weapon.

Well, turns out NERF is up for confiscation as well.

[al_c]

Heck, they even made a cheezy 80's movie out of the craze (I think the film was called "T.A.G. - The Assassination Game").

"Gotcha!" starring Anthony Edwards. 1985.

[Fixit]

You are both right

Tag: The Assassination Game

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084756/


Gotcha!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089222/

[Blood of Tyrants]

"So far this spring, Blue Ash police have confiscated about 15 Nerf guns and PVC pipes fashioned into blowguns, as well as a pair of walkie-talkies."

Under what constitutional amendment are they allowed to do this? Last time I checked the Fifth Amendment said that a person was not to be deprived of property without due process of the law.

[aruanan]

Chief Chris Wallace said the department "pretty much has a zero-tolerance policy" for Dart Wars. Boone said his officers have been told since the beginning that they have discretion to file charges against Dart Wars players if they think the incident warrants it. They also are cautioned never to let their guard down on any run. So, they are justified in pulling their pistols.

"Don't think for a minute we aren't concerned about this," [ Chief Kirk Nordbloom] said. "But, our stance is, if you abide by the law, you won't have a problem with it. Play your game. But, if you break the law, you pay the price."

He's talked to police in both communities about calling a halt to Dart Wars. Officers suggested that Montgomery and Blue Ash could pass resolutions to outlaw the game, he said. So far, nothing has been done.

And no one questions how dangerous to society at large it is to have have chiefs of police who confuse their own orders based on their own tastes with the law. Remember several years ago some municipality that wouldn't hire any cops of above "average" intelligence for fear they would move on to some other job? I wonder if that is what has been going on here.

[Fixit]

Remember several years ago some municipality that wouldn't hire any cops of above "average" intelligence for fear they would move on to some other job?

New London, CT, among others.

U.S. Justice Department Wants "Dumbed Down" Cops

(06/13/97)

"The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has been pressuring police forces across the country to abandon "cognitive" entrance exams [exams based upon mental ability, reasoning skills, and intelligence], which test for basic reading, writing, memory and reasoning skills.

"The Department argues that such tests are illegal because they exclude too many minorities from police ranks. Cognitive test supporters say the tests are needed to assure that officers have the mental skills to make quick decisions about everything from the constitutional rights of suspects to the use of deadly force.

"As of 1993, some 83 percent of large city and county police forces used cognitive tests in hiring -- but that may be about to change. After years of pressure from the Justice Department, Nassau County, N.Y., agreed to replace its cognitive-based entrance exam with one that was based on personality -- in which applicants had to score only as well as the bottom 1 (one) percent of current police officers on a reading exam.

Note the date.

[al_c]

Yep ... and both were very lame, IMO.